You Wish
Kyle stole a glance at Emma as she passed him in the hallway. She looked gorgeous, her brown hair pulled back in a pony and her powder blue sweater reflecting her eyes. He turned away as she came closer. He didn't want to be caught staring.
Kyle had been in love with Emma forever now. Since she moved here and started going to the same school. He knew he was being ridiculous not talking to her, but he was man enough to admit to himself, at least, that he was a coward. He didn't have what it took to tell her how he felt about her; that the only thing that brought him to school every day was seeing her walk past him 5 or 6 times, depending on their timetables.
Of course he'd spoken to her. It wasn't like he was a complete idiot. She was his lab partner last year, and she asked him what page they were on in history once, when she was sitting in front of him. He had been so focused on her slim neck that he was caught blushing when she was suddenly facing him, her blue eyes amused and that smile of hers playing at the corners of her mouth. No, they definitely spoke. Sometimes they even exchanged greeting in the hall, especially if she wasn't walking with a friend and giggling about something. But he wanted so much more than that. He wanted her to wrap those thin arms around his waist when he got to school in the morning. He wanted her to slip her elegant hand into his when they walked to the cafeteria for lunch. He wanted to be able to say her name without worrying that someone will find out about his silly crush. He really wanted her to know him the way he knew everything about her by now.
He met up with Sam after school and they walked home together. Sam was the only real friend he had. The other guys were fine to hang out with when they had the chance, but he couldn't tell them his real thoughts on things. They were all about being cool and fitting in, and they laughed at a lot of things he did say, never mind all the things he didn't. He wouldn't ever think of sharing anything personal with them. In front of them, he made an effort to put an act up in much the same way.
But with Sam it was different. Sam was a bit of a misfit, he knew, and the guys gave him a hard time for hanging out with him, but not as much of a hard time as with other things, and he felt like he could talk to Sam. Maybe it was because Sam always talked to him about things. He had started it. It was easier to open up to someone, when they lead the way by risking bits of themselves first.
“How's Emma?” Sam asked, and Kyle cringed a bit, feeling like he didn't have a right to talk about her like she was his or anything.
“She's alright, I guess. Looked happy. Looked real pretty.”
“You always say that.”
“It's always true.”
“You speak to her today?”
“Nah, didn't have a class with her. Bummer though.”
“You know,” Sam said, careful now, “you don't have to have a class with her to speak to her... She talks to a lot of guys that aren't even in her year, they never have classes with her.”
“Quit bugging me okay? I know it's stupid, but I'm just not like them. It's not like you would do it either.”
“Well no... But I don't like her the same way you do.”
Kyle grunted and kicked at a rock nearby. He got annoyed when Sam pointed out the obvious. That was the bit that he hated about talking to people; the way they had opinions about things and voiced them, even when he knew the truth already.
“I heard of this guy, if it's any help to you,” Sam carried on. He didn't seem to notice Kyle's offence, “it sounded stupid to me, but it's said that he's some sort of magician or wizard or something. If you go to him, you can ask him to grant you a wish.”
“What? That sounds ridiculous.”
“I know, don't look at me, I'm just telling you what I heard. I was just thinking, if he is real, maybe you can go ask him about Emma, get your happy ending and all that.”
Kyle grunted again, but then looked at Sam with his head cocked to the side, “you think it'll work?”
Sam shrugged, “wouldn't know, I don't really have any wishes crazy enough to think about wizards and things.” He chuckled and play-punched Kyle on his arm before turning down his street.
Kyle walked on, deep in thought. What if it was true? What if someone like that really existed, and he could get him to grant him wishes? Like a genie or something, almost.
It took a couple of days mulling the idea around in his head, and the more he thought about it, the stronger he felt about giving it a shot. What did he have to lose? He already didn't have the girl of his dreams; it couldn't get much worse than that, really.
“Do you know where this wizard guy is?” he asked Sam on their way home from school.
“He lives at the old drive in apparently. Are you really going to go?”
“Yeah, I mean, why not? See if it's just a hoax.”
At dusk Kyle walked to the old drive in, and followed the gravel road that lead through the rusty gates. The sign that used to welcome teenagers and families to the newest shows was rusty and the bolts had come undone on the one side, leaving it hanging lopsided. It swayed a bit in the wind, squeaking ominously, making him feel jumpy. Don't be silly, he scolded himself, it's probably all just a stupid rumor anyway.
He passed the swings in front of the large white screen, counting the panels missing to create those gaping holes to keep himself from feeling like he was stuck in a horror movie. He tried to convince himself that he was just getting worked up over nothing.
In the far corner of the parking space an old trailer was half hidden in the shadows of tall trees lined up behind it. It was the only sign of any life, so he strolled over, trying to look casual. He hesitated a second before knocking on the door, and at the second knock it swung open so suddenly it made him jump back.
And old man with white hair stood in pale yellow light, looking at him with an expressionless face. He didn't say anything, so Kyle introduced himself.
“What do you want?” the old man asked, sounding a little hostile.
“I... well I thought that maybe... people are saying you... I was just thinking--”
“Spit it out boy, I don't have all night.”
“People are saying you grant wishes,” he spoke now, speaking too fast, “I guess I just came to find out if it was true.”
The old man stood back a bit, and gestured for Kyle to step inside. He hesitated a moment again, but then decided it was now or never, and stepped into the trailer.
The inside was neat and smelled of disinfectant, it didn't look worn down and neglected like the outside and the rest of the lot. He took a closer look at his host, and noticed that even though he had white hair his skin wasn't wrinkled, almost like he was hanging in between young and old and Kyle couldn't decide which he was.
“So, you've come to make wish, did you? Throw a penny in the wishing well?” he chuckled at his own joke.
“I just... well... yeah.”
“What is it then. Some girl?”
Kyle blushed.
“You need to understand, kid, that things like this always come at a cost.”
“How much do you want?”
The old man laughed, “I'm not talking about money, I'm talking about losing a piece of yourself.”
Kyle thought about it for a second. What did that mean, losing a piece of yourself? He'd heard people saying that they lost themselves when they lost someone to death, or went through something hectic, but that didn't make sense here. All things being equal, it seemed like a pretty safe venture.
“I understand,” he nodded.
“Alright, so tell me then, what is it that you want?”
“There's this girl in school that I love but she hardly knows I exist. I want her to know that I want to be with her. That I need to be with her.”
“You need to be with her.”
Kyle blushed again.
“Look, son, you're asking for something you're not going to be able to control. Magic, as you youngsters call it, doesn't work that way. It's not kind and gentle.”
“How bad can it be that she knows I need her?”
“Do you really need her, or are you just making a point?”
“I need her. Really need her.”
“Alright kid, but the only way you can reverse it, is by proving that you will make sacrifices if it comes down to it. If you don't, you'll both be done for.”
“Yeah, sure. I can do that.”
The old man nodded, and then opened the door. When Kyle looked at him questioningly he told him in rather rude terms that he can leave. Kyle felt disappointed. He'd hoped for something spectacular.
The next morning Kyle woke up and felt a tugging in his stomach that he hadn't felt before. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and frowned when he saw his canines were more prominent than usual. Had they always looked like that? He didn't remember noticing them before. He finished up and headed for school, but on the way his mouth definitely felt uncomfortable. With this still on his mind he walked into school, making his way to his first class. In the hallway, he felt his body pull to the side. He slammed into a wall, and some students around him laughed. Then he felt that pull again, but this time he fought it. He looked in the direction the pull was coming from, and looked straight into Emma's blue eyes. She smiled at him, and then turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. At the sight of her neck, Kyle suddenly had images flood his mind of him running his finger from her jaw to her collar bone, and then sinking his teeth into her throat. As he imagined it, his stomach twisted, and the pull in his body strengthened. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead as the reality of what he was experience hit him. He was a vampire, and he wanted her blood.
Kyle ran. He ran out of school, down the road, not stopping until he got to the trailer in the old drive-in lot. He banged on the door with both his fists, gulping for air as his lungs cramped.
“What!” the voice shouted from the other side of the door.
“You have to help me! I didn't ask for this, I'm a vampire!”
“You wanted her to know how much you needed her, well now you need her in a way she can't ignore.”
“That's not what I meant!”
“Have to be specific, kid.”
“What am I supposed to do now?”
“Like I said, you'll have to prove that you can make sacrifices.”
Kyle kept shouting but the voice on the other side didn't answer again. After his voice was hoarse, he turned, and slowly walked back, not knowing where to go.
The next day, he went to school. He didn't want to, but his body drew him there. He looked her up, and found her. It seemed like the agony that haunted him when he was away from her was almost worse than having to stop himself from sinking his teeth into her, although that was debatable now that he as so close, smelling her perfume and seeing the caramel colored skin that stretched over her elegant neck.
He wouldn't bite her. He promised himself. That was one thing that he couldn't do. He stayed away from everyone, refusing to talk, and lived in agony the moments he couldn't see her. It felt like his blood was burning him from the inside, and his skin was clammy with sweat all the time. Was this was withdrawal felt like? The words of the old man echoed in his head over and over again. Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. Well, at this rate, he was losing himself, that was for sure. Losing his sanity, sometimes his control. Sometimes he came so close to her that he could feel the warmth of her body, but then he managed to get himself back under control, and back away again to writhe in a bathroom stall until the worst of the shakes and shivers were over.
Days passed, turned into weeks, and he became weaker. His skin paled, his mouth was constantly dry, and his vision started to blur. It was the closest to dehydration, he thought, and he knew that if he was going to get through it, he needed blood. Her blood. But he wouldn't. He couldn't do it to her. He cared too much for her, and if even Sam snickered about it, no one understood what his feelings meant for her.
He grew weaker by the day. He tried to stay home, not feeling up to going to school, but that just made it worse, so he went. He had to drag himself every step, he couldn't concentrate in class, and there were days that he found himself in her class, even if he was meant to be somewhere else.
And then, one day, he couldn't anymore. His body was finished, his last energy drained. He dragged himself into a storage closet, and lay gasping on the floor, feeling like there was nothing left holding him down. His eyes rolled back into his skull and his body grew limp. And then the old man stood in there next to him, and told him that he'd never seen anyone sacrifice their life. Then he disappeared.
Suddenly Kyle felt better, he could breathe again, his head didn't feel light, and his vision cleared up. He pushed himself up, grabbed his bag, and tentatively stepped into the hallway. Emma was there, right outside the door, looking at him with her blue eyes.
“Hey,” she chimed, “are you okay?”
“Yeah... I am.”
“Good,” she smiled, “because I saw you go in there, and I was worried.”
Kyle shook his head, and she cocked her head to the side a bit. Then she asked him if he wanted to walk to class with him, and he smiled back, and said yes.
Chapter 1
Kyle is in love with Emma, and he imagines himself with her all the time but he doesn't have the courage to approach her. When he talks to his friend about it, he finds out about a wizard that might be able to help him.
Chapter 2
After a few days of thinking he decides to go to the wizard, and he tells him what he wants. He fails to word it right though, not understanding how malicious magic can be, and he wakes up being a vampire that can only survive on her blood.
Chapter 3
When he realizes this, he goes back to the wizard, and demands an explanation, but the wizard tells him that is what he asked for, and the only way he'll be able to change it is by proving that he's willing to make sacrifices
Chapter 4
Kyle tries to stay away from Emma, because he's in danger of biting her if he gets too close, but staying away from her causes him even more agony. With great strength he manages to control himself around her without biting her. Without her blood, he grows weaker and weaker.
Chapter 5
When he still doesn't get what his body craves, he's on his last, and he goes into a storage closet to die. Because he's willing to sacrifice his own life instead of harm her, the wizard finally grants him his real wish.
Characters
Kyle - Tall and skinny, messy brown hair, hunched and shy. Strong character, stubborn when he sets his mind to something that really matters.
Emma - His love interest. Beautiful, brown hair